Tiny Victories

writing, thrifting, music, and constantly searching for the tiny victories in seemingly average days | nashville via pittsburgh

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yoga journal: practicing at home

a big part of my yoga practice is the homey feeling of a studio. when i began doing yoga seriously and regularly, i went to a pretty upscale hot vinyasa studio in pittsburgh, and i didn't stop going there for the next three years. my last year in pittsburgh, i switched to a more laid-back hot studio closer to my apartment, and that decision to switch to a studio less than a mile away took months of consideration. though i always like to check out local studios on vacation or when they're offering a workshop, i'm definitely a creature of habit when it comes to my "home studio". 

when i moved to nashville last month, i had a studio in mind. i had gone there once during a visit, but after the stress of the move and the expense of quitting my regular job to freelance in nashville, i didn't feel confident in committing to a new studio. to be honest, i also didn't feel in tune with my practice either... i don't know if it's the excitement of waking up in a new city every morning, but a 75 minute vinyasa class seems very daunting to me at this point. 

yesterday, i realized for the first time since my move that i was craving a yoga class. i've never really been the type to practice at home (too many distractions, plus i've always enjoyed the energy of the other people surrounding you), but i decided to try to find a short flow online that i could do in between working on freelance projects from home.

i was honestly amazed at what i came up with. there are SO many more videos and step-by-step sequences since the last time i've tried an online class, and the one i decided on was exactly what i was looking for. i chose a 25-minute leg/glute burning flow, and though it wasn't the usual vinyasa flow that i'm used to it wasn't an unpleasant difference. the instructor, kim wilson, is a canadian masseuse, acupuncturist and yoga instructor, and she was perfectly in tune with the workout the entire time. it genuinely felt like she anticipated every possible mistake and made adjustments just like a real life teacher would, but by calling them out via the video in case students wanted to adjust themselves. i finished the class feeling looser and pleasantly sore, exactly like i hoped i would.

if you want to check out the online class, you can find it here (excuse the somewhat lame buns-n-thighs sounding name - i promise it's good). 

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americana outskirts

this weekend the americana music festival was in nashville, and it seemed to take over the whole city. truthfully, it seems like there is something like this going on almost every weekend in nashville, and i mean that in the best possible way.

the festival is a four night affair that's spread out over six venues in downtown nashville, with a conference and awards squeezed in as well. time sort of slipped away from me and i didn't buy a ticket, and though my initial reaction was to be really disappointed i soon realized that there are a ton of free shows and events going on around the city the weekend of the festival. 

on saturday we went to grimey's for americanarama IV, a really laid-back annual event that features a ton of great musicians, food trucks, vintage pop-up shops and a sidewalk sale on their great selection of vinyl.

we bounced over to east nashville later for a similar event at the groove. even though we got there after the food and beer were pretty tapped out, it was still beautiful outside and we heard some folk singers with pretty amazing accents from all over the UK and US. 

crowd at grimey's / the basement 

belmont blvd. 

outdoor coffee and a photogenic pup

on sunday, we continued our weekend daytime music run at antique archaeology (apparently the shop from the show american pickers, though my steady TV diet of HGTV reruns and breaking bad heart attacks left me clueless about that side of things). our friends in the end of america and american opera were playing a rotating in-store session, and a surprisingly big group of our nashville friends came to watch. i just realized how many "america" titles there are in this paragraph... i guess my sunday was unintentionally patriotic as well. 

i'm looking forward to more weekends outdoors and full of music now that the weather is cooling down. hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as well! x

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hanging planter DIY via refinery 29

since our nashville apartment is pretty small and, sadly, also pretty dark, i've been working on ways to brighten things up while still leaving lots of open space to avoid feeling cramped. even though i kill almost every plant i every own by overwatering them (i just love them too much!), i've built a pretty big collection of succulents and house plants to try to make our cave-like dwelling feel more airy. when i came across this awesome hanging planter tutorial on refinery 29, i thought it would be a perfect way to add some interest in our bedroom without adding more furniture, and the hanging style sort of feels outdoorsy despite the lack of windows. 

all you need to make these is some sturdy twine or rope (i used a thick crafting yarn), scissors, plants, and pots (make sure they don't have draining holes in the bottom, though or you'll have soil and water all over the floor beneath). i was also battling a cold when i decided to make these, so i made some black tea with honey and threw in the new blue moon agave nectar ale to drown my sniffly sorrows. 

the finished product looks natural and minimal, even after i paired it with a hammered gold hanging planter from urban outfitters. i might add more later a la sincerely, kinsey, but for now i like the spacing and simplicity. 

xx

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i want to be ira glass.

photo credit: anaheed alani

in the equal parts thrilling and incredibly traumatic stage of life only one year or so out of college, it's easy to feel confused or out of place. it's so easy that it's actually become acceptable. it's so acceptable that it might even be considered the norm, a norm that has inspired countless coming-of-age novels and john hughes films and blogs (yes, hello). for one to feel purposeful and accomplished immediately following his or her college graduation, it would seem mocking, offensive, even vain. 

so here i am. i'm increasingly aware every day how completely unnecessary i am as a member of society, especially after moving to a new city where the people i know (and who know me back) can fit inside of a prius. the lifestyle of a freelance writer only intensifies this feeling, offering no office to report to and no coworkers with whom to co-work. i find myself constantly torn between feeling exhilarated by the freedom of my super modern, "i-work-for-myself", digital-age semi-career and feeling like my career motivation is at a complete dead end. 

in the midst of this internal debate, i realized that my ultimate career goal at this point in my life is simply to be ira glass.

ira glass would never feel worthless. ira glass would take his feelings of worthlessness, find a dozen others who also feel similarly worthless (while somehow also feeling completely in tune with their deepest emotions) and they would all turn it into a radio show to inspire other worthless-feeling individuals and make them cry sad, beautiful, hopeful tears

ira glass made a career out of "gentle journalism", something that i have yet to figure out. sure, some stories are more hard-hitting than others, some even delve into the inner workings of the U.S. government, the deficit, terrorism, immigration reform, etc., but there's a gentle, human side to all of it that makes every former journalism major feel like he/she could have written that story, dammit! ira asks the questions that you actually want to know, he approaches every story from the angle that is just on the line between informative and basic childlike emotions. ultimately, he reports on things in the way that every aspiring young writer imagines journalism to be, before the college writing curriculum beats you down with job placement statistics and instructions for writing a good query letter.  

ira glass is likeable in a way that i am not likeable. he is constantly, unapologetically prying into people's most personal lives (and getting paid for it), yet that sweet voice peppered with the occasional pre-pubescent squeak and a slight lisp soothes his interview subjects into teary submission. if only i could adapt this persona on my weekly phone calls to comcast, i might finally get functional WiFi and free HBO thrown in for my trouble.  

ira glass is tavi gevinson's mentor. if there's one person who makes me feel even more unaccomplished than ira glass, it is tavi gevinson.

photo credit: wall street journal

now go exercise this wonderful, completely free basic human right and listen to this american life. don't let all this career demotivation be in vain. 

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centennial park

on saturday we decided to check out a couple very nashvillian things that were going on in centennial park. the fall kickoff of musician's corner, an awesome showcase of local songwriters, overlapped the annual nashville street food awards and kind of created my ideal saturday festivities. we spent the afternoon trying the amazing food, petting the abundance of puppies that are everywhere in nashville and listening to some talented musicians while lounging on the grass.  

jeni's ice cream... a pretty obvious go-to spot for nashville locals, but for transplants like me it feels like the novelty will never wear off (guys -- they have whiskey pecan ice cream!)

sweet treats from the trailer perk and beach bums juice bar

it seems like everywhere i go lately the trunk is there - these guys definitely use their mobility to their advantage 

i'm finding myself loving nashville more and more every day. the people are amazing and the creative atmosphere of the entire city is so inspiring. i feel like i'm buzzing with excitement all the time, even on the days where we don't have anything planned, and i'm hoping to hold on to that feeling no matter where i live in the future.

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a lifestyle brand for the living

for the past year or so i've had the completely wonderful experience of working with dead bury dead, a lifestyle brand / clothing company from pittsburgh. i initially did a promotional video that ended up being scrapped, but that first shoot led to campaign shoots, product shoots and another video shoot and, in turn, a really great friendship with the owners of the company.

brandon started DBD after realizing in the midst of his last college final that he didn't want to use a college degree as a crutch for the rest of his life and walking out (what a movie moment, right?). on the DBD website, brandon said, "i did not want something to fall back on. i wanted something to propel me forward." 

nowadays, DBD is sold in urban outfitters in both the us and the uk, and their designs are seen in local boutiques and on fashion bloggers around the world. brandon also now has a beautiful wife, carly, who owns the (also awesome) steel city cotton works. together they have three beautiful babes and have built kind of a pittsburgh luxury t-shirt empire, all adding up to that life less ordinary that brandon set out for when he left that last final. 

check out this amazing video we filmed in braddock, pa last fall: 

and for all of your super-soft, typography-heavy, couldn't-ask-for-a-better-fit shirt and hoodie needs, visit www.deadburydead.com.

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look // listen

since moving to nashville, i feel like i'm intimidated by how good the music is everywhere. when i hear people talk music or see someone play here, i end up leaving with that same feeling you get when you see a leggy model wearing some ridiculous drop-waist harem pants that would give anyone else diaper butt. even the grocery stores here play songs that are way too cool for me.

(okay, i love it. this is exactly what i've dreamed of since i was in seventh grade and lectured the girls in my middle school algebra class for not knowing who joe strummer was.)

here's what i'm listening to lately:

barely blind - golden child i'm somewhat biased because these texas-raised LA transplants are my boyfriend's friends, but just try to watch the adorable peter pan syndrome in their video for the pop-punk-all-grown-up "golden child" without wanting to go outside and build a tree fort.

jon bindley - three rivers since i am from pittsburgh, i guess this one is biased too... i feel like some kind of stage mom over here, but this song is just perfect. jon is fellow pittsburgher living in nashville, and this americana ode to our home town (and its corresponding video) checks almost everything off the list of things i love in music.

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in photos.

you know that phrase "how wonderful to be happy for no reason"? i copied that into my dreamcatcher notebook when i was 12 years old, and i never forgot it. i realized this afternoon that that's exactly how i feel here - so deliriously happy despite barely knowing anyone, being pretty unsure of most things career-wise, being much less financially stable than i was back in pittsburgh.

that sense of contentment made me realize how, at this point in my life at least, the stability that i need comes from things like inspiration rather than money or marriage or a career. i'm sure those things will start to mean something real to me some time in the future, but right now they just look like strange hazy clouds off in the distance. 

the more you understand it, the "no reason" part of your happiness starts to take shape, to tie itself to the tiny victories: a weight lifted from leaving uninspiring job, a messy closet that somehow just looks better that way, the feeling of simply being inside of a beautiful city so different from your own.

nashville life so far (in photos):

my favorite building on 21st 

sidewalk chalk at the basement, blurry from too many whiskeys and too much dancing

treasures at the nashville flea market

beautiful cat who roams around our building

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Nashville Via Pittsburgh

Hey y'all, how's your mamas?

I am now officially a Nashville resident. Hillsboro Village to be exact, sort of the Shady Side of Nashville for anyone else who is a Pittsburgh immigrant (more people than you'd expect, apparently, though I've only heard of these mysterious nomadic creatures from friends and actually have yet to really meet any).

I knew a semi-cross-country move would be pretty expensive, but we managed to save a good bit without really trying too hard (my specialty). We left behind anything that we didn't absolutely need (our apartment is a pretty tiny 550-sq ft, so this part was kind of necessary - definitely a tiny victory), used a giant van left over from my boyfriend's obligatory mid-2000's pop-punk touring days rather than renting the $600+ gas U-Haul (!!!) and thrifted almost everything that needed purchasing or replacing. 

I'm kind of prone to stressing out about my environment and letting it affect my productivity, repotting a plant or organizing my closet when I should be working (or writing in here). I really wanted to get our apartment organized exactly how I wanted as quickly as possible, and it definitely helped to make sort of a mental layout plan before leaving Pittsburgh. I'd like to get some photos and a thrifting tips for a big move up here soon, hopefully in the next day or so. 

So for now, my goals are to maintain the big freelance writing job I've been working on for the past few months, to search for a more inspiring full-time job here in Nashville, and to get my yoga schedule back on track. I'm trying not to make "cry endlessly over missing Pittsburgh friends and think about how hopelessly friendless you are in this foreign land" an item on my daily rituals, and so far I've been suppressing my semi-lonliness with excitement over this beautiful new city. 

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lollapalooza recap

this was my first trip to chicago, and i was most surprised about how beautiful the festival itself is. i prepared myself for crowds of festival-goers, greasy food, and swelteringly hot days, but we ended up with breezy ~60 degree weather the whole weekend. plus it was pretty amazing to see the chicago skyline behind every stage. 

growing up on tiny punk venues and the incredibly DIY local music scene of pittsburgh in the early 2000s, it's always kind of a bummer to see the fabricated direction music is heading in. i'm all for different musical tastes, but lolla was pretty packed full of barely-legal kids fueled by concealed water bottle vodka and ecstasy in order to enjoy the super digitized dubstep and house music constantly pulsating out of the perry's stage. i kind of spent all weekend wanting to give all of these girls a sweater and a patti smith album. 

while sometimes you had to squint through a haze of body glitter and people twerking on garbage cans to 2chainz (if only i were joking...), there were a ton of beautiful, unexpected moments at lolla. jenny lewis and ben gibbard dancing sweetly together during the postal service's set, the intensity of the national, shovels and rope in all of their rough-and-tumble southern glory (my personal favorite), cat power handing out roses to her fans in the valley-like escape of the grove stage under the stars... it seemed like the majority of the artists at lolla attempted to create a bit more magic than they would at a more traditional tour date, and it was appreciated. 

photo by my beautiful friend Chelsea

so now i'm back in pittsburgh for one little week to pack for the move to nashville, finish up a pretty huge freelance assignment and spend as much time as possible with loved ones before leaving. i will most likely be running on coffee and as much food from my favorite pittsburgh restaurants as i can fit in, and needing a bit of motivation to stay focused - though when am i not looking for that?  

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one week in delaware.

i spent last week in bethany beach, delaware with my family. we haven't done a family vacation in a while, and i think that with my brother starting law school in the fall and me moving soon my parents wanted to make a point to go somewhere this year. 

i spent most of the week waking up early to run (despite the insane humidity), reading by the pool and seeking out the surprisingly great local restaurants in rehoboth, dewey beach and lewes.

Skirt: Goodwill, $10 | Bag: Vintage Coach, Christine's Consignments in Bethany Beach, $40 | Tank: Gap Body (nightshirt worn as a tank top)

Grilled salmon with maple mustard glaze | Northeast Seafood, Bethany Beach

i also did a good bit of thrifting while i was there. i was on the hunt for some apartment things for our new place in nashville, and i ended up getting a few things that i wasn't exactly looking for but i'm pretty excited about. 

amazing antique store in lewes, DE - organized by decade with products stacked from floor to ceiling 

a consignment jewelry store in lewes, DE

this was definitely a trip full of tiny victories. i intended to do a bit of work while i was gone, but the lack of wifi in our beach house made that pretty impossible. a freelance writing assignment that i was assigned got pushed back at the last minute, so i was free of obligations for most of the trip. after a stressful summer of constantly working (most of the few other trips i've taken have consisted of me spending a few hours each morning hunting for a coffee shop, laptop in tow), this was a welcome break. i was also happy to get some reading done (FYI: I read The Catcher in the Rye, Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and started F. Scott Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise"), which I haven't had much time for the rest of the summer. Freelancers and aspiring creative types, I'm sure you can relate. 

Now I'm back to the day-to-day for a few short weeks before making the trip to Nashville, and I still have to pack, sell off some things, buy some more things and fit in a trip to Chicago in the midst of it all - eep! I'll be documenting my packing tips and woes along the way, as well as a few thrift hauls that I've been wanting to post for a while now. 

I'm accepting any moving tips / Nashville tips / Chicago tips (I've never been!) that yinz might have, or just words of encouragement in general - stressing is my specialty so I can use all I can get! Hope you all have a great week. xo

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noodles & cheap champagne

noodlehead | 242 S. Highland Ave. | www.noodleheadpgh.com

it's been a bit of a whirlwind, but i'm so excited (and only slightly freaked out) to say that i'm officially moving to nashville at the end of the summer. after a noncommittal trip to "feel out the areas" and "maybe take a peek at a few apartments", we realized that we had actually been planning on moving there all along and were just too worried about things not working out to admit it (isn't it funny how the indecisive mind works). 

the past week was spent taking inventory of furniture we already have, attempting to consolidate my leftover college apartment crocheted throw pillows and urban outfitters wall prints with his 10+ years worth of music equipment, browsing nashville job boards and tying up loose ends in pittsburgh. needless to say, i was ready to blow off some steam by midweek. 

a giggling, tipsy dinner at my favorite pittsburgh thai restaurant was exactly what i needed. noodlehead is tucked away on shady side's south highland avenue, and its restoration hardware-style decor, under-$10 menu full of spicy noodle dishes and super cheap BYOB fee have made it an unofficial weekly tradition for my lady friends. 

the first time i met my now-boyfriend, he told me that he was drawn to me because he could tell how kindly my girlfriends and i treated each other, even from across a crowded punk show at a dingy bar. this was one of the nicest compliments i've ever received, and it reminds me every day how important it is to find and maintain female friendships. 

as i watched my beautiful friends laughing and extravagantly pouring the cheap champagne that we brought in celebration of really nothing at all, i'll admit that i was a little bit misty-eyed thinking of how much i'll miss our silly rituals those first few lonely months in nashville. but i'm even happier to be leaving pittsburgh on such a good note, on my own terms and with so many reunions and visits to look forward to. 

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Yoga Journal: When Someone Brings An Ego to Class

I recently started at a new studio closer to my apartment after going to the same studio for the majority of the time I've practiced yoga. Overall it's been such a positive experience, and in many ways this space is a much better fit for me (a wonderfully huge surprise, considering how long I've put off switching studios).

In class last week, however, a girl around my age sat next to me. You know how there are certain people in class who you seem to be moving in sync with, who seem to be on the exact same skill level as you are? As much as we try to maintain inward focus, there are times when being aware of the person next to you is unavoidable. I felt that with this girl, and it seemed that she felt it with me as well. I noticed soon after this realization that she suddenly seemed to be consistently one step ahead of the teacher, always anticipating what position would come next and moving into it before the cue. I understand that we all move at our own pace, but this frustrated me in a very different way. I felt as though this person was competing with me because we so obviously had very similar practices, and it made it difficult to stay focused on my own class. 

Eventually, I managed to center myself and got as much out of the class as possible, telling myself to move slowly and to leave my pride out of it. It may have looked like she was more experienced than me, but I forced myself to focus on the more important things (much more mature than the yogi I was two years ago, who would have shamefully taken the bait and maybe even thrown in a few unprompted inversions as well). 

Later, alone in my apartment, I felt the soreness in my biceps and the trembling weakness of my legs. I realized that by leaving my ego out of things and moving through each pose as slowly as the teacher intended, I got as much out of class as possible, both physically and mentally. If I had rushed through each sequence it would have proven to the rest of the class that I've put in the hours, yes, but it wouldn't have proven anything to myself. I wouldn't have worked those invisible muscles in the shoulders that are only targeted by slowly, slowly lowering from a high to low pushup, and I certainly wouldn't have achieved the deep, trance-like shavasana at the end. 

I used to be that girl who, as much as I hated to admit it, felt competitive on my mat. I felt like the hours I spent falling out of crow pose meant that I deserved to be able to show it off after I finally perfected it. That's not how yoga works, however - and I have the sore biceps to prove it. 

What are your thoughts on competitive yoga classmates? How do you deal with it when someone forgets to leave their ego at the door? 

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things not meant for you

I recently found myself in two very different situations where I realized that although these things were wonderful and beneficial and inspiring, they weren't any of those things for me. A job that everyone around me admired felt stale and weighed heavily on me with each day I spent there. A wonderful person in my life had endlessly good traits that somehow didn't translate to me, didn't inspire me and weren't appreciated by me, no matter how much I wanted to be inspired and appreciate. Both of these situations made me feel guilty and cold for a long time, until I heard a piece of advice that made me realize that it's more selfish to try to keep something in your life just because of its inherent goodness than it is to not feel the goodness in the first place. 

Someone else will sit at that desk and feel more inspired than I ever did. Someone else will laugh at that person's jokes in a way that is real and wholehearted. I believe this, and I congratulate myself in some way for leaving these things behind to be appreciated by someone who is meant to appreciate them. From now on, I will only keep the things that help me grow, excite me and benefit me, and I will leave the rest to hopefully do those things for someone else. 

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nashville dreamin'

A weekend in Nashville quickly turned into almost a week in Nashville, and a surprising love affair with a Southern city I had never given much thought to.

It seems that lately, a strange number of signs in my life have been pointing South (and to Nashville specifically). I had been planning on going to the Beale Street music festival ever since I discovered Deer Tick, a road trip itch and a few extra bucks in my (sad, little) savings account. Tickets were purchased, and then I immediately forgot about them as I usually do with spontaneous decisions like that.

As the festival date approached, the more level-headed guy in my life suggested that we break up the 12-hour Pittsburgh to Memphis trip with a night in Nashville, and I selfishly agreed based entirely on my dreading the long car ride. Fast forward a few days, and that one night in Nashville turned into three long, lazy, glorious days/nights, with a hasty drive to Memphis on Sunday morning just in time for the last day of Beale Street.

Tank c/o amazing Pittsburgh-based DeadBuryDead

This has really never happened to me before. I always entertain the idea of loving other cities (demonstrated through a slightly-homesick-but-still-wonderful summer internship in London, a week spent sleeping on the floor of a Brooklyn walk-up and drinking whiskey at 3pm, etc.), but to be honest, I've never found a place I love as much as silly, cloudy little Pittsburgh. I'm unsure of what this love could blossom into, but my lease is up in August and I've found myself browsing Nashville Craigslist apartment ads with a hazy head and a wandering eye. 

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23.

My parents have a clean, warm house. Sometimes I go there and think, "I'd like to have a house like this someday." Five minutes later, I think, "Fuck this, give me the shittiest apartment as long as it's somewhere other than here."

And that's how I'd describe what being 23 feels like.  

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freaking out is an art.

I was unbelievably, unheard-of lucky to find a job immediately after graduating college, especially with a writing degree. 

I used a connection left over from a college job and what little networking skills i've picked up to land a 6-month temporary position at a very cool, very Silicon Valley online clothing retailer based in Pittsburgh. And I was ecstatic about it, despite that daunting "TEMP" label that glared at me from the end of my job title. I was ecstatic in a cocky, I-told-you-so-Dad, writing major kind of way.

I'm not going to say that I didn't freak out about being suddenly 23 and jobless, with rent due in a week and a pile of college loans to pay. I'm not going to say that I didn't cry in my car in the alley behind my apartment, call my mom, consume an obscene amount of Thai food and red wine. I did all of those things, I freaked out, but when a few days later I realized that I didn't really freak the fuck out. In a weird way, my freak out was almost productive, almost a little stimulating in a way. 

I realized that I was more upset about surface details -- money, feeling caught off guard, finding a new job -- rather than losing the job itself. I knew that what I had been doing wasn't writing, which is what I'd always dreamed I'd be doing, but I convinced myself that because I loved the company, I also loved the job. Not so. I found myself daydreaming about finding a job with more creative freedom, more to sink my teeth into, more freelance writing, when I should have been sad about my contract ending, which made me realize the job wasn't right for me to begin with. 

I contacted anyone and everyone who I had been in contact with in the past, through internships, jobs, even chance encounters, who seemed like they were doing something that I wanted to be doing. I was hesitant at first, but it seemed like everyone I spoke to was excited to help, like they all wanted to do as much as they could with what they had to give me guidance. I realized that I should have kept in contact with these people all along.

I went a little crazy. I drank a lot of wine, I danced like a maniac, I went to New York for no apparent reason. But everything that I did felt really good, like things I had wanted to do all along. 

This is the change I needed, even if it came sooner than I was ready for. Now I just need to harvest this manic, terrifying excitement into something productive. Here's to new beginnings (and likely a whole lot of wine).